Definition

1. Verb:
   • To spoil, to ruin, to corrupt: To cause someone or something to become bad, damaged, or to develop undesirable qualities, often through excessive indulgence or poor treatment. It implies a negative change in character, condition, or morals.
   • To damage, to break: To cause physical damage to an object, making it non-functional or less valuable.

Usage Examples

• Verb:
  • Chiều con quá sẽ làm hư con. (Indulging a child too much will spoil them.)
  • Đừng để cơn giận làm hư một ngày đẹp trời. (Don't let anger ruin a beautiful day.)
  • Cậu bé tò mò đã làm hư đồ chơi mới. (The curious boy broke the new toy.)

Advanced Usage

• "làm hư hỏng": This is a common compound form emphasizing a state of being spoiled or damaged. It is often used for both objects and character.
  • Thời tiết ẩm ướt có thể làm hư hỏng đồ gỗ. (Damp weather can damage wooden furniture.)
  • Những bộ phim bạo lực có nguy cơ làm hư hỏng giới trẻ. (Violent movies risk corrupting the youth.)

Variants and Related Words

• Hư (adj): Spoiled, broken, corrupt. Describes the state resulting from the action 'làm hư'.
  • một đứa trẻ hư (a spoiled child)
  • một cái máy hư (a broken machine)
• Làm hỏng (verb): A close synonym often used interchangeably with 'làm hư', especially for objects. It can sound slightly more direct or colloquial.
  • Tôi vô tình làm hỏng máy tính. (I accidentally broke the computer.)

Synonyms

• Làm đồi bại: To corrupt, to deprave (stronger, often moral corruption).
• Làm hại: To harm, to damage (broader term for causing harm).
• Phá hỏng: To wreck, to destroy (more intense, implying total ruin).

Related Phrases (Phrasal Verbs)

Note: Vietnamese does not have phrasal verbs in the same grammatical structure as English. The concept is often expressed through verb+adjective/resultative complement compounds. - Làm cho hư: A slightly emphatic form meaning "to cause to be spoiled". - Thói quen đó làm cho hư răng. (That habit causes teeth to be ruined.)

Related Idioms

• Nuông chiều làm hư trẻ: (Indulgence spoils the child.) A proverb warning that excessive pampering ruins a child's character.
• Gần mực thì đen, gần đèn thì sáng: (Near ink, one gets black; near a lamp, one becomes bright.) This idiom about environmental influence relates to the concept of being 'corrupted' (làm hư) by bad company.

1. Spoil
   • Làm thế anh sẽ làm hư cháu đấy
     You will spoil the child by doing it